47 POV
The sand on my shoes danced along with the breeze. I had been looking at it for some time. With each gentle gust of wind, the layers of sand would replace each other and slowly pile up in places where the wind would not blow it away.
"Walk."
Ichika's voice reached my ears. My gaze shifted away from the sand to look in the front. Phil and Annie were not there. As far as I could notice there was only one adversary, Mason. The other people are probably hiding in the school. We would know soon of their location from Phil and Annie.
Even though I was the one who was going to be used as bait, I had no time to regret my actions or even talk about them. The fight was here already. I raised my guard, my muscles tightened and my core strengthened.
Each step we took brought us closer to the gate in front of us which would lead to stairs. For the other classes, this was routine. They had no idea a bloodbath was about to happen in a minute.
Some still looked confused and it showed on their faces. But as we slowly approached the gates that connect the field to the inside hall they must have realized it was useless to worry about it. Balled fists, some wiping their tears. I am pretty sure I saw Colin smiling thinly out of enjoyment.
Just as we were about to enter the building, we heard footsteps echoing from the inside. I was at the back so I couldn't see it at first but one by one, students from my class would move their heads out of line to see what was in front of them.
"We made it on time, thank god." That was Phil's voice, and he was out of breath. They didn't come here before the bell, so why are they here now?
"It's fine. We were just stopped on our way back by a teacher." Annie said, coming up from behind.
"You're to blame for that!" Phil said, turning to Annie.
These two appeared much calmer than everyone else. So much so that the rest of us watched in silence without interrupting them.
"Are we...safe?" Kelan asked.
"There's no one inside the building, and we checked up on them too," Annie said. By 'them' she probably means the Flux guns. Kelan didn't care about the Flux guns as much as he cared about a positive response.
I cannot say that I'm not relieved.
"We are possibly safe for now, but be on your guard. Mason is still watching us. If there is no investigation then he is probably here to talk to 47," Ichika said.
A collective sigh of relief from almost everyone in the class. It looked like the danger upon us had been averted.
But, that relief just came from the external conflict. What about the internal battle we had seen just now?
Right after we reached our respective classes. A small announcement came from the speakers. It was connected to the principal's office. Someone had requested to visit me at the school. There wasn't a single doubt about who it was.
On my way there, I came across Mr. Gary who seemed to be heading toward the class I just left behind me.
"I heard the announcement. Has something important come up?" He asked me.
"Yes sir. An officer has asked to see me." I told him. This was known to the school authorities, I see no reason to not tell him.
"Why?" he asked, a bit perplexed.
"I was a witness to a demon sighting the other day, so it is probably about that."
"Oh god! Are you okay? Why didn't you tell me?" His expression changed immediately to concern.
"I am absolutely fine. And I was able to get out with just a minor concussion. I didn't tell you because a part of me just wanted to forget that it had even happened," I told him.
"Take care, Eric. Your health and safety come first. I think I should not keep you busy here, the officer must be on schedule for this visit," he said.
I nodded and parted ways with him.
At the reception, the lady pointed me toward the guest waiting room. I opened the door to it.
Inside the room, I saw two men. One of them was the headmaster and the other was Mason.
"Oh, you're here. Is he the one you wanted to talk to?" The headmaster asked Mason.
"Yes. Thank you for your help."
"It's nothing much really. I'll leave and you can talk here in private," the headmaster said as he moved past me to leave the lounge in a dignified manner. The atmosphere I sense in this room isn't of the urgent kind.
There was one girl apart from me and Mason there, too. Seeing her allowed me to calm down a bit. This is not the worst-case scenario.
"I had requested you here because I needed a full account of what happened from the eyewitnesses."
I nodded and sat across from him. It took me about 5 minutes to explain my actions that happened right after the demon encounter. I made sure to include luck and coincidence a lot in my explanation. That way I could water down my contribution if the need arrived.
"For a teenager, you sure handled the situation in a way I wouldn't expect most adults would," Mason mentioned after I was done with my side of the story.
"It was lucky that I and Keika got out of there with minor injuries," I replied.
"Have you ever been involved with a demon before?" Mason asked me.
Swarms of them. Hundreds and hundreds of them all at once. I ran for my life all day and night.
"It is a memory I don't want to recall."
He probably understood. I and Keika were lucky, but not all encounters end that way. I have seen things that can make you go weeks without sleep.
"Very well," Mason said as he stood up to leave.
I had made every effort to appear as an inconspicuous and normal person.
Is that the right approach here?
"Wait!" I unconsciously called him in order to make him stop. He turned around
"I want to be a part of the effort to battle demons. How do I get from here to there?" I pointed at myself and him respectively.
"Once you become of age, you can apply to be a part of Viazo."
The Viazo. A special force initiative of Asnad to battle demons in their country.
"Before that?" I asked him.
He narrowed his eyes a bit and thought for a moment before replying.
"If you are that motivated to protect others from demons, I suggest you be a part of due process."
That was not the answer I wanted, and he knew it. It seems I did get the point across.
"Can I have your contact?" I asked him.
After a brief silence, he nodded and gave me his contact number. I don't think he thinks he'll ever need mine.
I came forward this time, even though I didn't like it. It is best to make the most of the opportunities when they present themselves. Now it is up to me to pull this thread between us if a situation ever needs it.
Now that I was done here, I should get back to the class.
"Hey!" Keika stopped me. For the most part, she had chosen to stay silent today and only speak when she was asked a question.
"Yeah. What's the matter?"
"My sister is home today. And if it is fine with you, you can come with me. I've already told her about you."
That is convenient. And timing is okay, too. Winter is approaching and nights are getting crispier. I thought it had to be on a holiday.
"Sure. I'll come with you."
"Yeah, if we could get you back to your home before the night, it would be great."
I won't go as far as to call my hostel a home. A home's not a place, it's a feeling, and as far as I can remember, I have never felt at home. I might have felt this pleasure somewhere in my life before, and in that case, it lies with all the things the instructor has stolen from all of us.
"Bye, see you after school," She waved her hand as we parted ways.
After my business had concluded here, I returned to the class where everyone was waiting. Mr. Gary had already left a few minutes ago.
"How did it go?" Ichika asked me.
"All is fine. They were just here to ask about the demon incident I was a part of, and they did not know about any possible link between me and Christine."
I could see Christine take a sigh of relief and bring her hands together thanking god for saving her.
My seat made a small screeching sound as I dragged it to make space, which made me realize, we may have extremely nice utilities and an environment here that acts as a great catalyst to boost studying, but a class' infrastructure is still pretty basic.
"Colin and Katie had another argument just a bit ago," Kelan whispered to me.
"How did that go?"
"Katie argued that making a decision for one of her team members was none of Colin's business while the latter kept pushing his own agenda."
That wasn't unexpected. Both of them did not budge on their points. It was clear that not wearing the mask was Christine's fault but Katie isn't the kind to leave someone behind like that.
"Colin did not wait for a second to make you the sacrifice," Kelan said.
"I know, and his stance probably won't change even as we move forward." "I'm glad to be where I am now," he patted his chest in assurance.
The rest of the school happened as usual. Only that there were a few sad faces because of the midterm results being released today. It was kind of fun, seeing Kelan and Taylor's faces dropping.